In language that is kid friendly and based on the latest science, Lions, Tigers, and Bears introduces young readers to some tough environmental issues. Young reviewers say this book is "Awesome". Some of them say Ron handed them too much information. But hey, we're going to need a highly informed group of young scientists to turn these problems around. Turn the pages to see what is happening with Polar Bears. And read on about how we might help young Iranian scientists as they try to save the last cheetahs in their country. Who knows, kids might find ways to a more peaceful planet by teaming together to save the spotted cats, the great white bears, and the sleek orcas swimming our seas.

Excerpt from Lions, Tigers, and Bears:

POLAR BEAR

A mother polar bear paddles through icy water with her cub trailing behind. The mother bear is strong and well adapted to the water. She might even be able to swim across bodies of water 50 miles wide. Her cub is not yet strong enough to keep up the pace, even on a much shorter swim. The little one climbs atop its mother for a welcome ride to the distant shore.

The polar bear has powerful front legs with large paws that help it to swim. The bear's great strength helps it to crush ice dens and snatch seals that hide beneath frozen shelters. Polar bears also feed on walrus, berries, and the carcasses of whales washed onto the shore.

Dead whales offer a tremendous feast that is often shared by several bears who are attracted to the odor of the carcass from many miles away. At these times of plenty, many polar bears will dine together with little or no conflict. When they meet, bears hug in dancing embraces and might roam together for many months. But the bears often live solitary lives in their Arctic home.

More than half of the world's polar bears live in Canada, but they are also present in a great circle within the Arctic, a vast area that covers one-sixth of the earth's surface. This is a land of ice and snow with few people. The human population of New York City alone is more than twice that of the entire Arctic. But it is this human population far to the south of their natural homes that threatens the polar bear's future.

Unlike most threatened predators, polar bears are not in great danger from humans living nearby or moving into their natural landscapes. True, polar bears are shot by hunters, and bears do face problems in areas where they come into contact with human settlements. But the polar bear's habitat is now changing rapidly because of human activities in the world in which most of us live, far to the south of the Arctic. Much of that threat comes from global warming.

Global warming occurs as carbon dioxide and other gases rise into the atmosphere. Warm rays that originate from the sun bounce off the earth and bounce back after bumping into this layer of gases. This is known as the greenhouse effect since the gas layer acts like the glass that traps warmth from the sun within a gardener's greenhouse.

Climate reports show that much of the impact of this warming is most pronounced in the polar north. Scientists have observed a 7 percent reduction in the Arctic's ice cover in only twenty-five years. Ice is also becoming much thinner. In many ways the ice is critical for the polar bearπs survival.

Seals are the polar bear's most important prey in much of their range. The bears hunt seals on the ice and need a solid, frozen layer to reach their prey. When the ice melts, they are like hockey players without a rink and have no way to reach their goal. Bears in western Hudson Bay have shown lower reproduction success as spring thaws cause ice to melt earlier than in times past. Scientists have also expressed concern that decreased ice cover also means wider and wider reaches between land masses. Polar bears are excellent swimmers, but cubs and young bears will have increasing difficulty reaching land. Those with a mother to help them may survive, but even the strongest swimmers may not be able to cover the distances created as ice continues to vanish.

Scientists believe that polar bears are a signal to all of us. Prior to scientific observations calling attention to global warming, polar bear populations were thought to be stable, even increasing. Most books published as recently as the 1990s made no mention of serious threats to their numbers. In fact, polar bears benefited from international agreements that protected them in all of their range. Now, agreement is nearly universal among scientists that the polar bear is threatened. As its icy world changes, we all suffer its losses and with that loss comes an early warning of changes to our more immediate world.

In one way scientists have expressed concern by recommending that the polar bear be placed on the endangered species list. This would be the first time an animal was considered for protection under our endangered species laws as a result of global warming. If the bears are listed as an endangered species with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), scientists will have greater abilities to turn ideas into actions that could lead to the polar bear's protection.

This same kind of legal protection took place when bald eagles were in danger of extinction. They were listed under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and given protection according to the rules used by the USFWS to protect plants and animals. Like many legal actions, this took a great deal of time. But in the end, protective actions to save habitat and remove threats saved the bald eagle. Polar bears can become a success story as well.

Spectacular photographs of grizzly bears are paired with field sketches to bring the reader face to face with the largest of land predators. Thomas Mangelsen's images include never-before-seen photos of the bears taking down elk and sensitive portraits of females with their cubs. Deborah Cooper's soft touches help illustrate "scraps of paper" dropped on to the main pages as if written in the rush of a moment while tracking the great bears. Both Ron and Tom have spent many hours following and studying grizzlies and call for us to become more aware of their wilderness home.

Searching for Grizzlies Review by Science Books and Films Magazine≠ July/August 2006:

"Early childhood readers enjoy a profusion of books on bears, such as the Father Bear series, the Care Bears, and even the Three Bears. Here is a book for young children in which the description of bear safaris, together with superb nature photography, closes the reality gap. The photos are chronologically arranged by life cycle, with descriptions starting with a picture captioned "Crawling out of her hibernation den, a bear sniffs the air in search of many kinds of foods..."† She is accompanied by two cubs. References to the bears' food chain connect the pictures, such as 'Grizzlies feast on trout that ate the stonefly that swallowed the mayfly that chomped on the caddis that shredded the leaf that fell from a tree growing on the bank of the river.'† This is a good read-aloud book to introduce young children to nonfictional bears."

Black Bear, Brown Bear, White Bear too. Here is a way to get kids to enjoy bears without treating them as if they were merely creatures of a fictional world. Learn about the life history of Polar Bears living on the edge of vanishing ice sheets. Follow the path of black bears through tangles of dense forest. Visit the vast reaches of Russia where brown (also known as grizzly) bears roam in healthy numbers. Then plan a trip to go out and see each bear on your next wilderness adventure.